The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is The Fat Controller's Railway and was first created in 1914 after a government-funded joining of the Island of Sodor's standard gauge railways. The railways involved were the Sodor and Mainland, the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light, and the Wellsworth and Suddery Railways. In 1948, it became the "North-Western Region of British Railways", but this term was never used as the railway kept its operating independence. With Privatisation in the early 1990s, it officially became the North Western Railway.

The Fat Controller's Railway

The standard gauge railway on Sodor in the television series is affectionately known as the Fat Controller's Railway. Some merchandising and promotional material has referred to it as Sodor Railways. The Adventure Begins marks the first time the name North Western Railway is used in the TV series.